Ahhh, summer. Time to shop for bathing suits, beach towels and… backpacks? That’s right. July is almost over and it’s already time to start shopping for school. But before they step inside a store, today’s back-to-school shoppers do their homework, heading online to find out what trends are hot, where to get them, and how to get the best deals.

And where are we getting inspiration for what to buy? A quarter of Canadian university students saying that they go to YouTube to find out what’s cool to purchase. In fact, Canadian searches for “back to school” on YouTube grew 67% last year, and this year we’ve seen a 120% growth in watchtime of back-to-school videos globally.

It’s only July, and we’ve already seen twice as many back to school videos posted on YouTube as last year, including perennial favourites like hair tutorials and dorm room tours, along with rising trends like nail art (which we’ve already watched 2 million hours of on YouTube this year!)

So what items are likely to be on Canadians’ back-to-school shopping list? We looked at search trends year-over-year and identified three distinct patterns:

Rising stars - you can think of these as fast fashion trends, they’re things that get really hot quickly, but can fizzle out; we’re searching for them a lot.

Seasonal Growth - these are trends that last for several seasons, they have staying power; these searches are steadily increasing year-over-year.

Seasonal Decline - these are trends that are slowly on their way out; we’re searching less for them now than we used to.

Whether it’s a crash course on the Greek economic crisis through the lens of a gyro lunch, or turning the tables on a political opponent with a bit of cell phone-destroying comedy, YouTube is a powerful platform for political engagement. When it comes to having a voice in our democracy, it levels the playing-field – anyone with a webcam and an internet connection can be seen, heard and make a difference.

As we head towards our own moment at the polls this fall, online video will be a major source of news, commentary and insight.

To make it easier for Canadians of all ages to discover online videos about the Federal Election, we’re launching a new YouTube Canada Elections Hub. Our channel will highlight video content from a variety of Canadian news sources in the lead up to the election. Into this mix we’ll also add topical vlogs from Canada’s YouTube Creators, along with user-generated content from the campaign trail.

Curated by Storyful, the team behind our popular YouTube Newswire service, The YouTube Canada Elections Hub will spotlight top trending video content on a daily basis, giving Canadians a one-stop shop to start exploring the latest videos from across the country and across the political spectrum.

On the YouTube Canada Elections Hub you’ll find:

Video content from news media across the country

Content and campaign videos from political parties

Live streams of the federal leaders’ debates

Topical vlogs and commentary from YouTube creators

Weekly themed playlists on key election issues

Breaking election trends and viral videos

So get engaged in the issues that matter to you - Subscribe to the YouTube Canada Elections Hub to be notified when new trending videos are posted, and stay tuned for more updates from Google Canada on the ways we’re helping Canadians stay educated and engaged as we head towards the polls on October 19th.